There are more than 2,000 cases filed in the Actos Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) pending before a United States District Court judge in the Western District of Louisiana. The Actos MDL bellwether cases involve identifying two of the best plaintiff cases and a third case selected by the defendant Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Takeda is the manufacturer of Actos, which has been associated with bladder cancer. Actos is in a class of insulin-sensitizing drugs known as Thiazolidinediones, which was approved to treat Type II diabetes.
The Western District of Louisiana bellwether trials are scheduled to start Jan. 27, 2014; a second will begin in April 2014.
There are about 3,000 cases pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill. The bellwether process here is under way. The cases in Chicago’s Circuit Court are being handled by Judge Deborah Dooling.